Daniel, who is autistic, had invited several friends to his eighth birthday party, but not one called to RSVP. His parents already knew this feeling well.

"His father and I remembered the past two years of no one showing up for his birthday parties, he would spend the day crying that he had no friends," Daniel's mother, Carolyn Nicastro, told WFLA. "We could not let that happen again."

That's when they got the idea to invite their local police department in North Port, Florida. Daniel has always admired police officers and viewed them as superheros, his parents said. So they brought invitations to the police station, unsure of how the officers would respond. They didn't tell Daniel a thing.

The North Port police delivered in a big way: A whole group of officers surprised Daniel at the party, bringing gifts and posing for a picture that's been shared over a thousand times on Facebook.

"He was so excited!" Carolyn Nicastro wrote in a note to the police department. "His favorite friends came to his party. He is still talking about it being the best birthday ever!"

The response to the story has been so overwhelming that the police department has decided to host a larger celebration for children in town.

"Volunteers with the North Port Police Department are currently organizing a community birthday bash for not just Daniel but any other child in our community who has felt left out," said a department Facebook post early this week. "We want all our kids to know how special they are and see how much our community cares for them."